SUMMARY

Accomplished global product manager with strong execution skills. Leads small teams to rapidly bring products to market without reliance on complex corporate processes. Agile Product Owner for multiple development projects. Identifies product requirements by building strong customer and partner relationships. Customer advocate throughout product lifecycle.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Senior Product Manager, HP Hyper Converged Systems 2013-2016

A Hyper Converged system is a software-defined infrastructure with tightly coupled compute, networking, storage and virtualization components. It reduces IT manpower requirements, unifies policies, provides optimized scalability and is virtualization-ready.

Responsible for VMware-based Hyper Converged, Intel/Linux based HC250/380 virtualized systems for the enterprise market. Introduced scalable, software-defined products in the early adopter product phase.

· Met aggressive six month introduction goal by leveraging standard products, driving sales, NPI activities and Agile development in parallel
· Developed product inter-line positioning, value proposition and presentations
· Supported new worldwide 200-person sales force close business
· Drove quarterly product refresh release

Senior Product Manager, HP EVO:RAIL 2013-2014

Led worldwide introduction and lifecycle management for the hyper converged EVO:RAIL system to target small and mid-sized businesses. Partnered with VMware.

· Engaged a core team of 20 people to bring EVO:RAIL to market with minimal corporate support within six months
· Addressed lackluster sales by decisively making feature and price adjustments within two months, which increased sales tenfold
· Continually engaged 10 cross-functional organizations to eliminate scope and schedule creep
· Managed technical, services and sales opportunities with VMware counterparts

Senior Product Manager, HP OneView Converged System Mgt. 2012-2013

Original member of a new, autonomous Converged System group of 200 people. Drove requirements, evangelized and oversaw lifecycle of an efficient, automated management interface to drive down customer operational expense.

· Identified usability and manageability improvements as a key revenue opportunity and developed business case
· As the Agile Product Owner, created user stories, use cases and personas. Participated in scrum sessions, developer demos and backlog rationalization.
· Initiated two usability (UX) studies

Bill Tarkulich

Page Two

Product Manager, HP Superdome Servers 2011-2012

Responsible for HP Superdome hardware business, including requirements, investments and lifecycle management.

· Reduced Oracle-centric customer defections by 20% by extending support program length to ten years, slowing customer defections
· Rationalized feature backlog/requirements
· Collaborated with product managers to provide product migration paths

Program Manager, HP Utility Computing 2008-2011

Led pay-per-use and Instant Capacity programs, consisting of engineering, operational IT, and HP Financial Services offerings, to provide alternate customer financing options.

· Delivered $17M annual revenue with a team of six
· Stabilized operational billing and revenue forecast fluctuation, as high as 30%, by driving robust automated utilization data audits and remediation
· Increased customer satisfaction in over 100 accounts
· Led regular reviews of account performance which resulted in rapid resolution of customer billing concerns
· Drove market re-pricing, contract renewals and conversions to preserve installed base

Sales Program Manager, HP High Performance Computing 2004-2007

· Established server trade in value to drive 50% of all sales revenue
· Executed regional promotions to drive 15% add-on options revenue

Project Manager, Compaq 1998-2004

· Led teams of 3 to 10 people to architect, manufacture, sell and deliver over 40 customer-specified systems.
· Drove a team of three to integrate and deliver $10M of Oracle 9i RAC solutions annually

Software Development, Apollo Computer & Others Early career

· Led a team of 15 software engineers to deliver two releases per year
· Wrote diagnostic and device driver software for servers
· Developed database applications for non-profit, educational and distribution markets
· Analyzed market segment performance and recommended adjustments to sales strategy

EDUCATION

Master of Business Administration, Northeastern University, MA

Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering Rochester Institute of Technology, NY

CERTIFICATIONS

Pragmatic Marketing Level III Certification

Last Updated: August, 2016

My Wish for a Better World

Saying hello! We’re all in this together, and acknowledging one another is a custom we must not lose.

By David Roach | January 13, 2013 , The Boston Globe

WHEN I WAS A BOY, my father would take my brother and me for a swim in the lake in the town where I now live. Then it was a farming community of about 3,500. Today it is a commuting community of about 10,500. From my boyhood spot in the back seat of the two-toned 1957 Chevy, I noticed how my father would wave to other drivers we passed as we made our way to the lake. Most would respond with a simple wave. Others would raise the four fingers curved around the top of the steering wheel as their acknowledgment; some would raise a finger to the brim of their baseball hat.

When we’d turn the corner at the top of the long hill that led to the lake, we would pass a farmhouse where an elderly couple would be sitting on the porch. Make sure you wave, my father would say. And we did, and they would always wave back.

Now, I travel other country roads in that same town as I take my evening walk. I do my best to sustain the custom I learned as a boy but must confess to mixed results. Although most drivers return my wave, many appear to do so begrudgingly, seeming almost embarrassed, as if they’re not quite sure what to make of this guy whom they do not know walking down the road and waving to them.

I wonder what has happened to cause the devolution of our local custom. It seems no longer enough to acknowledge as we pass that we share the same fine evening, the still unspoiled tree-lined roads, the clear, crisp autumn air. It seems rather this acknowledgment is something for which we must qualify — that it is no longer enough to realize that time is short and we might as well be kind.

My first teaching job was in Battery Park High School in rural South Carolina. My students were the poorest in the state, among the poorest in the country, but they were rich in tradition and spirit. One such tradition came from the deep resources of their faith and their music — the oratorical device call-and-response, in which the preacher declares and the congregation responds. At Battery, teachers would begin an early class by declaring, “It’s a great day,” and the students would respond: “And a righteous morning.” I, too, would do this on occasion, on particularly fine Carolina mornings, and when I did, the response was always bounteous, always joyful.

Now I teach a seminar to undergraduates on education policy on Tuesday evenings. I am always the first to arrive for the opening class of the semester so that I can say hi or hello or good evening to each student as he or she enters the room. They are caught off guard, as if they would much prefer that I focus on shuffling papers on the table in front of me, head down, waiting for the bell to ring.

There are no bells on Tuesday evenings. Resourcefully, my students conjure up awkward responses, knowing that manners require something in return and that I am, after all, the guy who will one day issue them a grade. By the third or fourth week, however, something shifts and they become the first to say hi. I see this as a hopeful sign.

I believe it is not good if we become so self-absorbed and harried that we fail to acknowledge one another’s presence — our common interest in a good day, a fine sunset, and a better tomorrow. We are on this journey together, and the journey is short. While we are on it, we should say hi to our fellow travelers.

It is a great day and a righteous morning.

My Passions

Skiing

ACE Ski and Board Club

Sterling Ski Club

Hiking

White Mountain National Forest - U. S. Forest Service

Baxter State Park

Other Stuff in My Life

Grahm Junior College

Rochester Institute of Technology

Northeastern University

Genealogy

My Ancestral Village, Zboj and Nova Sedlica, Slovakia